Brian Kobilka

Brian Kobilka, MD, Helene Irwin Fagan Chair in Cardiology; Professor, Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine 

Research description: The goal of Dr. Kobilka’s research over the past 30 years has been to characterize the structure and mechanism of activation of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). His lab has employed a variety of approaches including cell biology, gene disruption in mice, and in vivo physiology to determine the role of specific adrenergic receptor subtypes in normal physiology. During the past 15 years his group has applied a spectrum of biochemical and biophysical tools to study different aspects of GPCR structure and activation. These include membrane protein crystallography, cryoelectron microscopy, NMR spectroscopy, double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy (both single-molecule and ensemble methods). His lab is currently working on several GPCRs known to play roles in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, or insulin release including the M3 muscarinic receptor, the beta-2 adrenergic receptor, and the glucagon receptor.

Selected relevant publications (Stanford DRC Members in BOLD):

  1. Huang, W., Masureel, M., Qianhui, Q., Janetzko, J., Inoue, A., Kato, H.E., Robertson, M.J., Nguyen, K.C., Glenn, J.S., Skiniotis, G. and Kobilka, B.K., Structure of the neurotensin receptor 1 in complex with beta-arrestin 1. Nature,  (2020) 

  2. Hilger, D., Kumar, K.K., Hu, H., Pedersen, M.F., O'Brien, E.S., Giehm, L., Jennings, C., Eskici, G., Inoue, A., Lerch, M., Mathiesen, J.M., Skiniotis, G. and Kobilka, B.K., Structural insights into differences in G protein activation by family A and family B GPCRs. Science, 369(6503) (2020) 

  3. Kato, H.E., Zhang, Y., Hu, H., Suomivuori, C.M., Kadji, F.M.N., Aoki, J., Krishna Kumar, K., Fonseca, R., Hilger, D., Huang, W., Latorraca, N.R., Inoue, A., Dror, R.O., Kobilka, B.K.* and Skiniotis, G.*, Conformational transitions of a neurotensin receptor 1-Gi1 complex. Nature, 572(7767), 80-85 (2019). *Co-corresponding authors 

  4. Koehl, A., Hu, H., Feng, D., Sun, B., Zhang, Y., Robertson, M.J., Chu, M., Kobilka, T.S., Laermans, T., Steyaert, J., Tarrasch, J., Dutta, S., Fonseca, R., Weis, W.I., Mathiesen, J.M.*, Skiniotis, G.* and Kobilka, B.K.*, Structural insights into the activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors. Nature,  (2019). *Co-corresponding authors 

  5. Maeda, S., Qu, Q., Robertson, M.J., Skiniotis*, G. and Kobilka, B.K.*, Structures of the M1 and M2 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor/G-protein complexes. Science, 364(6440), 552-557 (2019). *Co-corresponding authors